Thursday, 21 October 2010

Caramelised mango with coconut panna cotta

Having an organic veg box delivered is a great way to get your hands on a regular supply of top quality, super-fresh fruit and vegetables direct to your door. It's brilliant for those times when there's just too much going on and you're just too busy to get to a market or a good greengrocers. I love my veg box and wouldn't be without it.

Of course there are times when the veg box presents challenges, sometimes I get vegetables or fruit that I'm not used to cooking or on rare occasions something that I just don't like that much. The last two weeks have been like that, It's obviously the time for mangoes because they've been in my box two weeks in a row.I've used mango a few times before but it's not something I often buy. I've made mango cheesecake before and a really fantastic spicy mango salsa, this time however I chose to chop it into chunks and caramelise it to make a sweet, golden mango compote. It would have made a great topping for ice cream or paired with a dollop of Greek yogurt, I chose to serve mine with a silky smooth coconut panna cotta.Panna cotta is a classic Italian dessert that's incredibly easy to make having just four ingredients, cream, sugar, gelatine and vanilla. To make a coconut panna cotta I left out the vanilla and substituted some of the cream for coconut milk, the flavour of coconut isn't strong but the cream does have a light, delicate, tropical coconut flavour, the perfect partner to sweet sticky caramelised mango.

Coconut panna cotta with caramelised mango (Serves 6-8)

Ingredients:For the caramelised mango:

1 Large mango, peeled, stoned and diced

5 Tablespoons white sugar

Water

For the panna cotta:

600ml/1 Pint double/heavy cream

400ml Coconut milk

75g White sugar

Gelatine leaves, enough to set 1 litre of liquid (Every brand of gelatine is different, I used 7 leaves of supercook gelatine but check your packet)

Method:For the mango:

Put the sugar in a pan with a few spoonfuls of water, put it on the heat and bring to a boil. Keep boiling until it has turned a golden caramel colour.

When your sugar has caramelised add all the mango to pan, the sugar will seize but keep cooking and it will soften again.

Cook until the mango is soft and coated with a sticky syrup.

Set aside to cool for a few minutes then store in the fridge.

For the panna cotta:

First off put your gelatine leaves into a bowl of water to soften.

Place the cream, coconut milk and sugar into a saucepan and place on a gentle heat until it just begins to simmer, don't let the mixture boil.

When the cream mixture is just beginning to bubble around the edges take it of the heat and add the gelatine one sheet at a time whisking the mixture after each sheet has been added.

Once all the gelatine had been dissolved pour the mixture into molds or glasses and place in the fridge to set.

3 comments:

I've had to stop my veg box - with Paul working away during the week, we were starting to waste food which I can't bear. Lucky you getting mangoes though! Pannacotta is one of my favourite go-to desserts. Idiot-proof and impressive!